It’s been a blockbuster year for American women in tennis, lighting up the Slams with grit and glory. Madison Keys kicked off 2025 with a shockwave, toppling Aryna Sabalenka in a fiery three-setter to seize the Australian Open. Then came Coco Gauff’s Parisian masterpiece, once again with Sabalenka as the fallen foe. Jessica Pegula’s been rock-solid too, racking up three titles. But as the North American hard courts rolled in, back-to-back losses struck, and with her Canadian Open three-peat dream shattered in a nightmare, Jessica Pegula makes her feelings clear about her Canadian Open disappointment, making her feel before the US Open.
Jessica Pegula’s National Bank Open campaign came to a crashing halt on Friday after a stunning third-round loss to Anastasija Sevastova, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. What began with promise turned into a rollercoaster, ending in a deflating defeat that left the American star searching for answers with the US Open looming large. Standing under the lights for her post-match reflections, Pegula didn’t sugarcoat her frustrations. “Hasn’t been great to be honest. I don’t really feel like I’m playing great tennis. At times I am, but I feel very up and down, kind of sloppy. Which I don’t like,” she admitted with blunt honesty.
There was no hiding from the truth, Pegula’s perfectionist streak had been poked raw. As she peeled back the emotional layers of her recent performances, she laid bare her struggle to maintain rhythm and sharpness. “It really bothers me. I’m kind of a perfectionist, so I don’t like having to say that. But I mean I feel like I’ve gone through phases of my career, a few tournaments where I feel like that sometimes and you got to figure out how to get out of it and not, you know, feel sorry for yourself or make excuses,” she explained, with the weight of expectations pressing visibly on her shoulders.
Determined not to let the slump define her, Jessica Pegula emphasized the fight still burning inside. “I got to figure it out, and you have to do it, you know, in those moments in matches where you’re in that moment where you know you have to compete and figure things out. And I don’t think I’ve been able to do it great the last couple matches,” she reflected. Her words hit with clarity, this wasn’t about talent, it was about rising in the moments that matter most.
Jessica Pegula USA, Berlin Tennis Open by HYLO 2025, Berlin, LTTC Rot-Weiß , 18.06.2025, *** Jessica Pegula USA, Berlin Tennis Open by HYLO 2025, Berlin, LTTC Rot Weiß , 18 06 2025, Copyright: xClaudioxGärtnerx
With Cincinnati on the horizon, Pegula knows what must change. “So hopefully going into Cincy I think that’s definitely going to be my main focus. Every single match is, you know, focusing on those big points in those big games. Because I do think I am playing some good tennis to get up in these matches, and I’m playing, you know, there are times where I’m reeling off, you know, six, seven really good games, and then it kind of falls away. So, I got to figure out how to kind of sustain that higher level against these good players,” she concluded. The road to Flushing Meadows demands resolve, and Pegula’s eyes are locked in.
(More to come…)
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